There Must Be A Better Way Of Choosing Cloud Providers!

 

Actually....there is a better way.

Here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, multi....plus security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design and security....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

FREE Custom Cloud Network Design Help

Cloud Computing Humor

 

Here’s some cloud computing humor for you....

Also, here’s a FREE resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud computing strategy (public, private, multi, hybrid...including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with a custom cloud network design....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3

FREE Resource Helps Source And Design A Custom Cloud Network

The Essentials Of Cloud Adoption Plus The Basics Of Cloud Architecture (VIDEO)

 

Let’s talk cloud architecture. In this video, A Cloud Guru Senior Community Training Architect Scott Pletcher walks us through the reasons companies decide to migrate to the cloud. We explore the difference between public cloud, private cloud, and multicloud, breaking down common migration approaches – and why virtualization and containerization are often part of a cloud adoption. While the decisions we make when building things in the cloud are plentiful and require years of practice, you’ll walk away from this episode with an understanding of the key concepts that will be valuable when building your cloud adoption business case.

Also, here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, multi - including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design and security....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Free Cloud Technology Sourcing And Network Design And Security Help

Hybrid And Multi-Cloud Integration Use Cases (INFOGRAPHIC)

 

Also, here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, multi - including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design and security....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Cloud Computing

38 Questions To Ask When Evaluating Your Cloud Strategy (INFOGRAPHIC)

 

Here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, multi - including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design and security....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Cloud Computing Strategy

A CIO's Guide To Innovating Cloud Innovation

 

Today's CIO has a central role to play in their organization's transformation and innovation strategy, and the cloud can help enable a number of these important initiatives. However, a successful cloud strategy doesn't start with "the cloud." It starts with understanding the organizational structure, business processes and the existing value proposition in the market. In understanding those elements, a CIO can identify the business processes that need to be transformed to create a range of potential outcomes where cloud is uniquely positioned to support the organization's goals. CIOs can more quickly and strategically team with the business to align and advance cloud innovation strategies by reframing the cloud innovation conversation and planning process. A CIO's Guide To Innovating Cloud Innovation Also, here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, multi, edge - including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design and security....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Free Cloud Sourcing And Design

Cloud Migrations With Tina Gravel

 Tina Gravel is the Senior Vice President of Channels and Alliances at Cyxtera Technologies, where she helps businesses migrate their mission-critical applications to The Cloud. She is an award-winning executive with more than 25 years of experience in the IT outsourcing, cloud, security and SaaS industries.

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS: [01:09] Cloud is becoming more prevalent in the Enterprise space, with companies migrating more of their mission-critical applications to The Cloud. One of the more recent buzzwords permeating today’s vernacular is Hybrid Cloud. What does Hybrid Cloud really mean? [02:47] What are the considerations businesses need to have when thinking about moving their mission-critical applications to The Cloud? [03:53] A critical requirement for mission-critical applications is uptime. After all, you can’t have a global bank just go offline during a stock trade! One of the inherent benefits of migrating to The Cloud is the Service Level Agreement for guaranteed uptime. Many providers use a term called five 9’s of reliability. IBM just launched the z15 mainframe platform which offers seven 9’s. What do all these 9’s mean, and why are they important to businesses? [05:24] The more 9’s you have, the more expensive it is! [05:24] With regards to Cloud migrations, you need to balance the service level you want, with what you can afford to pay for. [07:03] How does Cyxtera help businesses with their Cloud migrations? [10:44] It’s no question that Cloud is the way to go for Enterprises that are launching brand new mission-critical applications. However, in the real world, the playing field is not so cut and dry. Let’s say, for example, that one of your core business applications is a COBOL program, which resides on a server in a backroom closet and stores its data in a huge flat file. First of all, how do you even begin to “cloud-enable” this ancient application along with its archaic flat-file database? The second challenge is that for that last 50 years no one has had to worry about cybersecurity. The application is running on a server in a secure location, and no one has access to it. As soon as this crucial and sensitive application moves to the cloud, suddenly, you have a new problem to worry about! Is it even worth it? [13:33] What is Zero Trust? [15:57] When migrating to The Cloud, make sure to only provide access to people who absolutely need it. [17:49] How do people connect with you? [18:17] Do you have any parting words of wisdom to share with the audience?

Also, here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, multi, hybrid...INCLUDING SECURITY)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Cloud Services

What Is The Difference Between Private, Public, And Hybrid Cloud? (VIDEO)

 A recent conversation on digital transformation with Ivo Koerner, VP of IBM Systems, examined the impact of cloud computing. Examined were the three models of cloud – public, private and hybrid – that organizations are adopting in order to effectively work with big data and artificial intelligence in order to drive efficiency and growth.

All three models share similarities, allowing you to store and manage large datasets and deploy advanced applications without needing to own – or even see – the infrastructure they are running on, and only paying for what you use. However, there are important differences that mean it is essential to choose the one that best fits your needs.

Here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, multi - including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design and security....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3

Cloud Services

Strategies For Migrating To The Cloud (VIDEO)

 This video offers a detailed deep dive into the why’s and how’s of an enterprise cloud migration strategy. Provides invaluable insights and advice for every CIO, CTO, and IT Director involved in a cloud migration effort.

Stephanie Wong invites Sona Oakley, Solution Architect for Google Cloud, to discuss the different migration patterns to the cloud. Stay tuned to learn how enterprises can choose the right strategies based on their business and technical environments, and the tooling that can help them get there. This video covers:

* Intro * How to approach cloud migration * Building an inventory of your apps * When migration doesn’t make sense * Choosing a migration path * Containerization strategies * VM migration to Google Cloud * VMware migration to Google Cloud * How to unify on-prem apps * Takeaways

Keep in mind the fact that cloud computing (public, private, multi, hybrid) is critical to digital transformation and Industry 4.0 strategies and concepts. This is especially applicable to efficient and effective data management for IoT / IIoT ecosystems. Specifically with regards to data storage, transmission, analysis, and availability .... particularly for remote access ... to facilitate operational decision making.

Also, here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, multi, hybrid...including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3

http://www.business-voip-solution.com/cloud-services

Hybrid Cloud Explained (VIDEO)

 Is hybrid cloud the solution that you and organization have been looking for? Sai Vennam breaks down the basics of hybrid cloud and shows how it can bring the best of both worlds by allowing you to utilize the features of both public cloud and private cloud that suit your specific needs.

Also, here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, multi, hybrid...including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture. For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3

Cloud Services

The New Hybrid....How Cloud Computing Has Evolved And The Impact Of The Data Center

 

When cloud computing was made available as a service, organizations, excited by the promise of scalability, flexibility, ease of management, and cost-efficiency, rushed to put all of their workloads into a public cloud provider.

In practice, the cloud did offer many of those things—for some workloads.

Those applications that moved data frequently, had specific security requirements, or didn’t fit the image of modern-day workloads (sorry AS/400) ended up being high-cost, non-compliant, or just didn’t work. This led to cloud repatriation (or as I like to call it, “raining”), where workloads started coming back on-premises from the cloud…but that just puts us back to where we were—or does it?

The cloud was still extremely appealing for organizations in concept, so further analysis was done. It was found that certain cloud providers were better for certain workloads and didn’t perform well for others. This brought forth the concept of multi-cloud to the enterprise, where workloads are scattered across numerous clouds, and some were found to be best suited by staying on-premises.

The question posed by this situation is: If our applications and data are in numerous locations, what is the best way for them to communicate?

Commonly, a public cloud provider will recommend its version of a Direct Connect or Express Route, private paths to the data managed by the cloud provider. This approach has challenges because cloud providers do not have the same expertise in this area as network providers. The processes to go through this product’s initial configuration are complicated and require a significant time investment. According to Gartner, the average company uses seven different public clouds (Azure, Oracle, Amazon, Google, etc.). This provides a challenge because cloud providers are not known to offer products to help work with their competition more effectively. Having your cloud provider also be your network provider creates lock-in and a lack of accountability.

There is also the use of public internet or VPN to connect to/between public cloud environments and on-premises infrastructure. These technologies are not reliable or scalable and can be limited by performance issues. As data moves to and from the public cloud on these solutions, there are also the costs of ingress/egress that can significantly impact the monthly bill.

These options have led organizations to look at different approaches and design what is now called a new hybrid. By utilizing a connectivity vendor that can be the middleman between carriers and cloud providers, the headache of integrations can be outsourced.

One of the most effective methods of doing this is to take advantage of a data center provider who can act as a cloud and internet exchange point. By extending your digital edge or co-locating your on-premises hardware in one of their data centers, your environment becomes cloud adjacent. With this methodology, organizations can assess which workloads are best for each scenario—public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises—and deploy those workloads to the desired location, but connect them in a manner that performs as if they are all in the same room. This also greatly decreases ingress/egress charges as connectivity bypasses the public internet.

One of the anchors in our portfolio is Equinix: the world’s digital infrastructure company. Equinix runs large data centers and peering points around the world. They have created an ecosystem where all the places, partners, and possibilities a business would want to connect to can come together and provide the best performance available.

By using an internet exchange point, like Equinix, organizations can mix and match cloud providers, have both cloud and on-premises workloads, and have the type of performance they remember from when their applications were all in a closet down the hall.

In so many instances, we focus on what our client is asking for instead of the art of the possible. As trusted advisors, we need to bring the bigger picture to the table and encourage innovation at every opportunity.

If you are looking at digital transformation or have cloud initiatives, be sure that Equinix is part of the discussion. 

To learn more about Equinix and take advantage of a our influence on getting you their best price ... including FREE network design and sourcing support ... simply ask at FreedomFire Communications.

WHAT IS CLOUD MIGRATION? AN INTRODUCTION TO MOVING TO THE CLOUD

Moving workloads to the cloud requires a well-thought-out strategy that includes a complex combination of management and technology challenges as well as staff and resource realignment. There are choices in the type of migration to perform as well as the type of data that should move.

Learn the details of the cloud migration process, as well as the various benefits and challenges it can present to an enterprise IT team.  Once you’re ready to make the leap, review the cloud migration tools and services that’ll help smooth the transition.

What Is Cloud Migration? An Introduction To Moving To The Cloud

Also, here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture.  For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design....simply ask at the below link.  It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3

Cloud Services

The Complete Guide To Cloud Migration

The focus of this guide is to bring together a selection of real-world stories of enterprise cloud migrations, from all-in moves to key databases or applications here and there to test the waters. All of these case studies include key lessons learned and some of the biggest benefits and pitfalls of performing a cloud migration.

The Complete Guide To Cloud Migration

Here’s a free resource dedicated to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy (public, private, hybrid, multi - including security)....taking all the potential stress out of the picture.  For free help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors....as well as with network design and security....simply ask at the below link.  It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3

Cloud Services

The Most Indepth Look Into Cloud Computing....EVER

Before you get started with the meat of this article you should know that there's a free resource to help you with all the necessary decisions in implementing a cloud migration strategy....takes all the potential stress out of the picture. For FREE help with sourcing and comparing potential cloud vendors as well as with cloud network design....including options for the best fit security plan for your cloud network....simply ask at the below link. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3

Cloud Services

Now on with the show.....

Different Types of Clouds

Everyone is using the Cloud – how and how much is the question. Cloud itself can be complex, but FreedomFire Communications is here to help and to support your cloud journey. So, what are the different types of Clouds?

• Private Cloud – This is when the Cloud environment is dedicated to only one user or sometimes a group of related users. Private Cloud is typically in a third-party data center or on-prem.
• Public Cloud – In a public Cloud, there are shared servers and other services between multiple users. Public Cloud computing uses Cloud computing technologies to support customers that are external to the provider’s organization.

Whenever you want to connect multiple Clouds or traditional infrastructure into some Clouds, this creates a Hybrid Cloud environment.

Speaking the Language: SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS

The different layers of the infrastructure pyramid include IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.

• IaaS (Infrastructure and Network Architecture) – In the IaaS model, third-party service providers host various IT components for customers in a highly automated delivery model that can be either a single or multi-tenant environment. In some cases, IaaS providers extend into tasks such a systems maintenance, data backup, and business continuity offerings.
• PaaS (Platform as a Service) – PaaS offerings include application design, development, testing, and deployment. PaaS services can also include web service integration, development team collaboration, database integration, and information security.
• SaaS (Software as a Service) – SaaS is a software distribution model in which a service provider hosts applications for customers and makes them available to these customers via the internet. As with other Cloud services, organizations typically pay for SaaS applications through a subscription fee on a monthly or annual basis. A lot of end-users prefer this over the traditional model of paying for software through a perpetual license.

There has been an evolution when it comes to Mission Critical Computing; this has happened to keep up with the demand to have access to the most recent technology. Many businesses have had to shift to the Cloud to scale and deploy in a more cost- and time-effective way than what legacy architecture allowed.

Colocation 101

There are various considerations when a customer is trying to locate a data center that makes sense for their private Cloud and their own private infrastructure needs.

• Geographic Considerations
• Physical Security Considerations
• Connectivity Considerations
• Power Consumption Considerations
• Sustainable Energy Considerations
• Temperature Considerations
• Cross-Connect Considerations
• Future Expansion Considerations

FreedomFire Communications has an immense amount of data center providers available to end-users. Take a look below to see what colocation providers you can find in the FreedomFire Communications portfolio:

Cloud Connectivity 101

When it comes to direct Cloud connectivity, the diagram below can highlight the ability to access multiple Cloud Service Providers from a single port. This is generally done via the Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric, Coresite’s Interconnect Gateway, or a supplier like Megaport, amongst others.

There are more than a few different suppliers that offer direct Cloud connectivity. Many of the suppliers in the FreedomFire Communications portfolio have CSP On-Ramps in their facilities. A Cloud “On-Ramp” is a connection service inside a data center that provides direct connectivity to a specific Cloud provider.  This is generally where a Cloud has gone. Others can resell the connection in the managed offering or connect to the on-ramps from the customer’s location.

Below you can see what Private Cloud Providers and Cloud Application Providers work with FreedomFire Communications as well:

FreedomFire Communications also works with multiple suppliers who can help access, migrate, and manage a customer’s data and applications into the Cloud.

IaaS vs. Bare Metal

Some may ask what the difference between Bare Metal as a Service and IaaS. With both, you gain access to a server on which you can install and run your chosen OS and applications. However, with bare metal, you get control of the full stack, from the tin right up to the user interface. You can also optimize utilization and performance to a granular level, something you cannot do in a virtualized environment. Like every technology, each has its place in the world, depending on the needs of the customer. Below you can see a list of IaaS and Bare Metal suppliers who work with FreedomFire Communications.

DaaS & VDI

DaaS, which is a fully managed VDI hosted in the Cloud, is one of the most common Cloud services. This is mostly due to the emergence of remote workers. There are many additional benefits to DaaS that align with the overall benefits to the Cloud.

Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery

When it comes to Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, a couple of key selling points include the ability to provide rapid recovery, geographic separation from the originating source, and flexibility.

Managed IT as a Service

Managed IT allows for full management of all or certain aspects of an organization’s IT needs. Some companies outsource a portion of duties to a managed IT offering to enable their staff to focus on other projects, while other companies outsource all their IT needs.

Cloud is complex, but it’s important to remember that everyone is using Cloud, and at the end of the day, it is all about the end-user experience and how the Cloud can benefit your organization.